Kraft is NOT Cheap

[AzPatsFan]

There is a contingent of fans who delight in degrading Bob Kraft and express their opinions that he and the Patriots are cheap.

They can't seem to find any basis for that other than that they sometimes allow FA to walk, just like other clubs do.

But now I have to point out that every other Team in the AFCE has cut their salaries of the the "little people" and assistant coaches, during the lockout. Many other Teams in the league, have done likewise.

Only Kraft's Patriots in the AFCE have not, as of yet. I don't know whether they will eventually do so, but they have at least continued to delay doing so.

 

[RayClay]

Kraft was a spendthrift before BB. The overly generous contracts to Bledsoe, Law, Milloy, Rucci, Max Lane. I might be wrong on particulars, but overpaying caused the team to be voted the least likely to win in the future back in 2000-2001.

 

[FCB02062]

Kraft laid off all or almost all of the New England Revolution ticket and support staff about two years ago; he's already covered himself for the "work stoppage" by trimming the Revolution to an almost amateur level operation...

If you don't believe me, look it up on the Revs and MLS forums...

 

[JoeSixPat]

The "Kraft is cheap" argument regarding how he pays player has long since been resolved... one would have to assign the blame to his GM anyway - and we know he looks at player pay from a value standpoint rather than being "generous" or "cheap".

From a business operation standpoint Kraft is a smart and savvy businessman. He's not going to waste money on spending when he doesn't need to do so. There's a number of complex factors that Kraft would consider within any of his businesses.

Maintaining pay for his football front office and cutting the front office budget of his Soccer team is an apples and oranges comparison with different factors relevant to each business.

 

[PATSNUTme]

Kraft laid off all or almost all of the New England Revolution ticket and support staff about two years ago; he's already covered himself for the "work stoppage" by trimming the Revolution to an almost amateur level operation...

If you don't believe me, look it up on the Revs and MLS forums...

If I looked it up, then I would have to care about soccer.

 

[FCB02062]

The "Kraft is cheap" argument regarding how he pays player has long since been resolved... one would have to assign the blame to his GM anyway - and we know he looks at player pay from a value standpoint rather than being "generous" or "cheap".

From a business operation standpoint Kraft is a smart and savvy businessman. He's not going to waste money on spending when he doesn't need to do so. There's a number of complex factors that Kraft would consider within any of his businesses.

Maintaining pay for his football front office and cutting the front office budget of his Soccer team is an apples and oranges comparison with different factors relevant to each business.

I like that Stallions patch - would you believe I actually have a St. Louis Stallions hat???? Gotta be a rarity....

 

[JoeSixPat]

I like that Stallions patch - would you believe I actually have a St. Louis Stallions hat???? Gotta be a rarity....

There's some who subscribe to a revisionist history that the team was never in any danger of moving to St. Louis and refuse to give Bledsoe, Parcells and Kraft the credit each of them is due in creating a very different reality for New England sports fans.

It seemed to me a little reminder of that was in order.

If you have some proof of when your hat was created it could indeed be worth something.

 

[FCB02062]

There's some who subscribe to a revisionist history that the team was never in any danger of moving to St. Louis and refuse to give Bledsoe, Parcells and Kraft the credit each of them is due in creating a very different reality for New England sports fans.

It seemed to me a little reminder of that was in order.

If you have some proof of when your hat was created it could indeed be worth something.

I actually bought it at Bldg 19 in the early 90s - they had a bunch of them, and they also had jerseys, towels, and other Stallions stuff...Now, if I could only locate the thing - it's packed away in the attic....Come to think of it, Bldg 19 also had some USFL stuff at the time and I bought maybe a Michigan Panthers hat or Denver Gold - something like that...

 

[BlitzFritz]

He is a hard nosed negotiator and business man. (that's not cheap, but its not someone you trust either).

lets not forget the whole Hartford head fake, in negotiating for the stadium.....

he is fully behind this lockout to get "a really good deal" for the owners.

i'd say he is greedy, not cheap. but thats me.

 

[DaBruinz]

He is a hard nosed negotiator and business man. (that's not cheap, but its not someone you trust either).

lets not forget the whole Hartford head fake, in negotiating for the stadium.....

he is fully behind this lockout to get "a really good deal" for the owners.

i'd say he is greedy, not cheap. but thats me.

So, getting a business deal that will enable the league, as a whole, to continue to function and make money without his franchise having to carry other franchises makes him greedy?? Huh.. learn something new every day...

 

[NEGoldenAge]

He is a hard nosed negotiator and business man. (that's not cheap, but its not someone you trust either).

lets not forget the whole Hartford head fake, in negotiating for the stadium.....

he is fully behind this lockout to get "a really good deal" for the owners.

i'd say he is greedy, not cheap. but thats me.

Hartford head fake, eh? Do you have any idea how much a a jerk Finneran was during that entire fiasco. That prick made it almost impossible to build a stadium in MA. Until you understand that situation, you'd be better off not talking about it.

Bob Kraft went on record saying it will be "criminal" if no deal is worked out in time for the season.

 

[borg]

For the life of me, I don't know how anyone could accuse Bobby of being cheap.

Take for example the first home game this past season. Sunday morning, we received our customary game-day wakeup call from none other Mr. Toughness, Steve Grogan. He provided us with the weather report, an overview of the day's gameplan, and a couple of vino recommendations for the ride into the stadium. Well done Stevo.

As we approached the Foxborough town line, the limo GPS flashed our rerouting instuctions that allowed us to bypass the masses and advance to the Suites entrance unhindered. Alexander, our Suite Concierge, escorted us to the pregame brunch featuring Icelandic jumbo prawns, Havenshire mussels, and a marvelous assortment of Cote de Basque cheeses...all flown in from Europe that morning. Flights of lighter white wines washed down this shellfish medley perfectly.

As always, we like to get down on the field for kickoff. Alexander expertly guided us to the VIP elevator that descended to field level where he whisked us past the burly guards and onto the sidelines. The scene was quite chaotic and I had difficulty discerning which team we were playing.

Back to our suites, we were ready to relax for the afternoon. The gals were quite smitten with a jovial sparkling white wine from Sonoma while the men were eagerly sampling lagers from just south of Ingusdorf. The food service arrived on time and I have to say we made the correct call....organic tapas' infused with spices from the southern Mediterranean regions ....perfect. Now some might say that we confused the pallet by blending foods and drink from so many regions...but I say hogwash....this is football.

Jonathan K swung by the suite, and as usual, the conversation veered offcourse and back to the same verbal jousting we always have..."Could the Trinity Squash team win another national championship?"

More to follow....Muffy needs to be realigned....can't keep her waiting

 

[DropKickFlutie]

I agree with the title of the thread, but to be fair the Patriots couldn't cut staff even if they wanted to. For the past half dozen years at least, the Patriots have had the leanest staff in the entire league. We have fewer assistants and coaches than anyone else. We can do this because Belichick does 10 different things at once.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

For most people it's hard to separate Kraft the business owner and BB the GM who applies the value to each member on the team.

One does seem certain that the more the CBA went away from the current and closer to something more in the realm of baseball, the more money Kraft would make. It would (for me and probably many fans) ruin the fabric of the game by having a 3-5 teams that could dominate through a higher payroll and many that would struggle to get by. The Patriots would be one of those 3-5.

it seems to me that Kraft stands to lose more by being a fan of the game than (first and foremost) than being a businessman. Probably doesn't count for much, but I support his actions.

The type of parity we have in football is part of what makes it great. Granted the rookie wage scale will go a long ways in bringing parity back to a baseline (to allow teams who get unlucky or draft poorly to not have to pay such high guarenteed contracts that set the organization back too far...any would make those top 5 drafts sopts more appealing for trades).

 

[BlitzFritz]

So, getting a business deal that will enable the league, as a whole, to continue to function and make money without his franchise having to carry other franchises makes him greedy?? Huh.. learn something new every day...

what can i say? i think the Owners LOW-BALLED the Players big time, led by Kraft. and now the season is in jeopardy.

i think an opening bid to the players didnt have to be "we take an extra billion off the top, and then give you a lower percentage thereafter. oh, also we want 18 games".

but thats just me. if you were a player, you would have said what? "hey where do i sign mr kraft?"

 

[patfanken]

He is a hard nosed negotiator and business man. (that's not cheap, but its not someone you trust either).

lets not forget the whole Hartford head fake, in negotiating for the stadium.....

he is fully behind this lockout to get "a really good deal" for the owners.

i'd say he is greedy, not cheap. but thats me.

The "Hartford head fake"

Lets get the history right.

Kraft was "greedy" for turning down a stadium deal in Hartford that would have given him a brand new stadium for ZERO dollars. That guaranteed him the revenue equal to a sold out venue for a decade, All the concessions, and a few more beauties that I can't recall. In exchanged he used this leverage to "force" the State of Massachuetts to let him pay for his $400MM stadium out of his OWN pocket, asking the state only to LEND him the money to make the necessary road changes (which BTW, he has paid back WITH INTEREST)

Yup, sounds just like the kind of thing a greedy owner would do.

 

[Deus Irae]

I'm not posting the link again, but many of you may recall the 4 year survey where Kraft was #5 in revenue and around #10 in actual salary paid. Now, you can call that cheap, or you can say it's still a reasonable amount, but this isn't an issue where one side is just talking out of its ass. Both sides can make legitimate arguments.

 

[townes]

So, getting a business deal that will enable the league, as a whole, to continue to function and make money without his franchise having to carry other franchises makes him greedy?? Huh.. learn something new every day...

His son was the architect of the deal they were operating on and it was creating record ratings, attendance, TV deals, and new revenue streams. To date not one person has been able to make a factual case that the deal was bad for the owners.

 

[townes]

I'm not posting the link again, but many of you may recall the 4 year survey where Kraft was #5 in revenue and around #10 in actual salary paid. Now, you can call that cheap, or you can say it's still a reasonable amount, but this isn't an issue where one side is just talking out of its ass. Both sides can make legitimate arguments.

If they were top 3rd in revenues and bottom 3rd in player payments you could make an argument he is cheap but when he spends more money for his head coach and has laid out big money to Pioli it is clear he is willing to spend what it takes to be really successful, unlike other franchises that act like the salary cap applies to coaching and front office as well. Kraft has also invested heavily in the patriots franchise, whereas other owners simply take their cut of revenues and stick in their pockets, so given his willingness to invest in the team and pay those who run it top dollar I'd say there is no cause to call him cheap.

 

[Oswlek]

I'm not posting the link again, but many of you may recall the 4 year survey where Kraft was #5 in revenue and around #10 in actual salary paid. Now, you can call that cheap, or you can say it's still a reasonable amount, but this isn't an issue where one side is just talking out of its ass. Both sides can make legitimate arguments.

Never saw it, so I'd appreciate a repost. Rankings really don't tell much of a story, you need the raw data.